From the Eyes of a Friend
by Wingleader Sora Jade
Summary: "Osamu, Osamu, hang on! You'll be all right!" I said, trying to calm myself down as much as our brothers, for I knew he wouldn't be. He knew it too. "Shin," he smiled weakly at me. "Take care of Kenny for me, will you?" I nodded, tears in my eyes...


Friends Forever  
by WSJ  
  
I love writing Ken and Osamu angst fics, but now-a-days everyone's doing that and I wanted to do something different. So I desided to still do a Ken/Sam angst, but from a different and totally unexpected point of view: that of Odiba's *other* resident genius... (Ba ba ba!) Shin Kido! (ie, Joe's hottie older brother! ^_~ I swear! He is so fine in 02!)  
  
I don't own Digimon.  
  
Note: I'm making Joe only one year older then Ken in this, instead of... like... four.  
  
()()()()()  
  
Once opon a time there were two boys who looked enough alike that they told everyone they were brothers, although they weren't really. They were almost the same age, only two months apart, and had the same spikey blueish hair, tall lanky figure and round, owl-eyed glasses. One thing they did not have in common were their eyes. One had large, round blue eyes and the other narrow indigo ones.  
  
Who were these two you ask? Simple. Me, Shin Kido, and my best friend, Osamu Ichijouji. That's easy enough, right?  
  
Ok, ok, next question: why in the worlds am I telling you all this? That's simple too, so none of you will make the same mistake 'Samu and I did.  
  
Not only did he and I have looks in common, we had several other things too. For example, we both had little brothers, we both enjoyed a good sci-fi book, and we were both geniuses, although that's not something I brag about. In fact, after what happened, I'm almost ashamed of it.  
  
Our little brothers have a big part in this story too. At the time Osamu and I were both fifteen, sophmores in high school by the American standards. My little brother, Jyou, was 10, and Osamu's Ken was a year younger, nine.  
  
(A/N: Sorry for the interruption! If anyone's confused, that would make it about one-two years before 01. ^_~ Clearing that up! And no, Ken hasn't gotten his D3 yet.)  
  
I think what started all the trouble was the fact that Osamu and I always seemed to take up the spotlight, and there was none left for the two of them. 'Samu and I tried to include them, we really did, but it was hard. We'd just get a good game going, Jyou and I, and then Dad would come in and hustle me off to me room to study. That happened a lot at the Ichijouji's too.  
  
So Osamu and I got the idea of joint study groups. The two of us would go over to each others' houses to study, and bring our little brothers with us. That way, we could study and Ken and Jyou wouldn't be bored, they'd have each other to play with.  
  
That really worked great, for awhile anyway. Sam and I were best friends, and I guess we just kind of assumed our brothers would get along perfectly too. Unfortunately for us, they did. They began to have long heart to heart talks locked up in Ken's room. They whispered endlessly about how horrible it was to have a genius brother, because then you had to live up to their example.  
  
And they began to resent us for being so smart, and then downright hated us, and Jyou even said so at one point. Osamu and I began to drift away from our brothers, and as we did we came closer together. After all, we were in the same boat. No one except us knew the pressures of being a genius, of having something so big expected of you.  
  
Don't misinterpret me, nothing happened, *ahem*, physically. (A/N: Eew! Sicko!) But 'Samu and I became better friends then ever. We clung to that friendship when the rest of the world was spinning around us so fast it threw us off our feet.  
  
As we banded together, so did our brothers. They really did hate us, it seemed, and the relationships would never be the same afterward, Sam and I mused. And they weren't. I eventually patched things up with Jyou, but Osamu never got the chance to.  
  
If only he and I weren't so blasted smart! Then none of this would have happened! It was because we had nothing in common with them that we began to drift from our brothers, and that's what caused this whole crazy mess in the first place!  
  
We were walking our brothers home from school, and they were walking ahead of us with their heads together, whispering. Osamu and I didn't pay much attention, I had my headphones on and my walkman blaring, and Osamu was daydreaming about something or other. That's where our first big mistake was, we weren't paying attention to Jyou and Ken.  
  
No, I suppose that isn't wholely correct. Our first big mistake was letting our relationships with our brothers get as bad as they were. Oh well, no helping that now. Anyway, I wasn't paying attention, and it was Osamu's shout that alerted me. I snapped my head up in time to see 'Samu take a diving leap to push Ken and Jyou out of the way of a car they had unwittingly walked out in front of.  
  
The car missed Ken and Jyou by bare inches, but smacked into Osamu full force. I didn't have time to think at all. Osamu and I had always said we would do absolutely anything for the other, and I'd like to think that I proved that just then, as if that would make up for 'Samu's sacrifice.  
  
When that car slammed into Osamu and sent him flying, I reacted. As I said, I had no time to think. I still would have done it though, if I had thought. But that's beside the point. As Osamu was doing his best to imitate a bird I dashed out right into the middle of the street, took a diving leap of my own, and caught him. I managed to twist around so that we landed on my shoulder instead of on my face or any of Osamu's already broken body.  
  
Even as we landed and I yelped in pain for my baddly scathed and probably broken shoulder, I could tell I had been too late. It had been too late when he had pushed our brothers out of the way.  
  
So I sat there on the pavement, bawling my eyes out, craddling my best friend's dying body in my arms, with two little kids staring down at my with eyes the size of frying pans.  
  
"'Samu, 'Samu, hang on! You'll be all right!" I said, trying to calm myself down as much as our brothers, for I knew he wouldn't be. He knew it too.  
  
"Shin," he smiled weakly at me. "Take care of Kenny for me, will you?"  
  
I nodded. "Friends till the end, right?"  
  
Weakly he shook his head and held up his hand, which I clasped in our special 'friendship handshake' way. "No," he murmered as his eyes slid closed. "Longer..." Those were his last words. A commitment to me to stay friends.  
  
That night I cried myself to sleep, and even now, I occationally still do. When Jyou got mixed up in the whole DigiWorld thing, and later Ken did too, I couldn't help but wish Osamu was there with me.   
  
After all, our brothers were following in our footsteps.  
  
~Shin?~  
  
~Yeah Kunemon?~  
  
~Where's Osamu?~  
  
Maybe it's a path they shouldn't take.  
  
()()()()()  
  
Awwww! So sappy... So sad! Please R&R and let me know what you think! I know the whole Jyou+Ken=friends thing is a little far-fetched, but I hope it's still believeable! ^_^;; Ja ne!  
  
~Wingleader Sora Jade, Mistress of Angsty Fluff 


End file.
